How to Prepare Meals Using the Flat Belly Diet
The Flat Belly Diet is a plan that allows you to eat some foods with healthy modifications such as adding or subtracting an ingredient. The diet originated in the pages of "Prevention" magazine before it became a book. To succeed on the diet, you need to learn what foods are considered healthy or unhealthy before preparing meals, and learn to create your meal plan before starting your diet.
Instructions
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Understand what foods contain the right amount of monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) that the Flat Belly Diet allows. There are five categories to create your meal plan under, including oils, chocolate and nuts and seeds. There are also categories for olives and avocados. Make a list of foods you eat to see which ones fit in each category.
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Talk with a nutritionist before creating your Flat Belly Diet meal plan. Ask about any health complications you might experience because the dietary plan focuses on eating on high-fat foods. Check to see if your nutritionist has any suggestions about which foods you should focus eating on during the 32-day program.
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Be creative in your meal planning for the 32 days; your plan keeps you invested in successfully completing the diet. Put together foods that you normally wouldn't combine in your lunch or dinner--for example, add peaches to a spinach salad. The combination sounds unlikely, but it can be effective for creative diet planners.
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Balance your meals between high-fat foods and a healthy mix of fruits and vegetables. For lunch, eat a chicken salad with handful of almonds and mandarin oranges. As a dinner option, you could have spaghetti with shrimp and snow peas. Watch what you eat, but also eat foods that you love. The diet is more successful when you like what you eat.
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Start the diet program by doing the program's 4-day anti-bloat jump start. This portion allows you to eliminate gas, excess fluid and heavy solids. For those 4 days, remove excess carbohydrates, spicy and fried foods and alcohol from your diet. After 4 days, you can start eating the foods off your 28-day meal plan.
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Tips & Warnings
Allow some flexibility in your meal plan for one of your favorite foods. Set aside one day in your schedule each week to allow you a cheat food, which is something not in your meal plan. Use that item, whether it's fast food french fries or another food vice, to motivate you to follow your diet for that week. Increase your exercise regimen by 15 minutes or make the next day's meals healthier to make up for the "cheat" day.
Don't forget to exercise during your diet program. Exercise isn't required during the Flat Belly diet, but you can create a light exercise program anyway.
Avoid any emotional eating due to stress, which is a common diet setback. Find another method to cope with your stress. Take a walk around the park or rearrange your closet. Focus on the activity at hand before tackling your problems once you've calmed down.
